The Covenant Way: Reforming The Christian Family

Consider the family life of this generation. When you can find the intact family with a dad, a mom and children, you often discover both parents working outside the home with demanding work schedules and precious little time for each other, the children, or God. For single parent homes it’s even more challenging. What’s a parent to do?

Parents work hard to provide the necessities of shelter, food and clothing. Most fathers and mothers cannot imagine doing much more, so they convince themselves that “quality” time with the family is more important than “quantity” time. To fill the parenting void, parents seek out other people and programs in an effort to give their kids a quality education, good personal character, and meaningful achievement. This, of course, justifies working harder to pay others to do what God ordained the family to do.

Why not take advantage of public schools, non-profit organizations, and community activities designed with children in mind? In fact, why not find a church that will take the kids off your hands for a couple hours a week so both dad and mom can have a meaningful worship experience while the children color Bible figures, enjoy a puppet show, and eat snacks? This is simply not God’s best for you or your family.

This is not to say that to take advantage of a community sports program, an artistic learning experience, or even belonging to good social organization is wrong. It is not. But these things cannot take the place of godly fathers and mothers as the primary care-givers and spiritual leaders in the lives of their children. The covenant family united to a larger covenant church family is God's best for us and our children.

Consider these things:

1. Who spends the most time with your children?
2. Who is the primary teacher of spiritual things to your children?
3. Where and how do your children spend their leisure time?
4. What are your children involved in apart from you that you know is your responsibility?

What were the answers to these questions? Who is at the center of your children’s lives? The problems of family are easily diagnosed but difficult to cure. We get accustom to those ways that make life easier for us but are not better for the heritage of God under our care as fathers and mothers. Pray diligently for God to give you the faithfulness to do your duty as covenant parents to His covenant children.

There will be no 2nd Reformation of the Church without a new Reformation of the family.